🔸𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝗮𝘁 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐀, 𝐒𝐞𝐩. 𝟗 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔🔸

"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎."

🔸⭐⭐⭐🔸

Dear friends, today I will focus on two events in Placebo's career, which are brought together by one country - China. I am known for dealing with quite complicated topics in my posts. Not that I'm looking for them, they come to me themselves💗.
If we do not count two concerts (in 2004 and 2009) in Hong Kong, which is an autonomous Chinese province, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞'𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚.
And even then, it was a harbinger of the problems that culminated in 2017, when Placebo received 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧 on performing in China. What caused such a serious situation? You will find out later, because now we go back to that first and only concert.

🔸𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐀, 𝐒𝐞𝐩. 𝟗 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔🔸

Photo credits unknown, edit by Marti

When Placebo performed in Hong Kong in 2004, Brian mentioned in an interview a planned tour in China:
📌 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑲𝒐𝒏𝒈:
Brian: „Good to be here, do a show eventually, it takes us a while to get here, should spend some more time here, but… need’s time, the world’s a big place. Just looking forward to the show. There were plans for us to do a more extensive tour around China, we’re just getting squashed with time, and traveling around, gotta get back and do festivals and things... hopefully on the next record, we can try to concentrate more."
(𝐻𝑘𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑔. "𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤", 𝐴𝑢𝑔'04)

𝐼𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛 2006, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑖𝑗𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑜𝑝 𝐹𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙, 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎.
𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛:

📌 Stefan: "In Morocco, I was threatened with death while we were playing there. And in China, I was almost arrested because I jumped off the stage and went to the audience. There was a huge space between the stage and people.
It seemed ridiculous to me, when people are so far away, one can't connect to them at all. There were about a thousand police officers for ten thousand fans. I thought I would ignore it and go to our fans.
I was warned not to do that. But at a concert, you don't care, you are engulfed in situations and you do what you feel. So I went. Fortunately, this had no consequences. But it was stuffy, I probably wouldn't do it again."
(𝑁𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑔. 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2016)

📌 Brian: "When we played in China, we started a riot and it was very, very strange. The security was the army and the people in the audience were fighting with the army. They were trying to get over the barrier to get onstage with us and we were like, “Oh my god.” You know, we’re a bunch of faggots and we’re wearing make up in China and these people really connect with what we we’re doing." [***]
"It’s amazing that you can go to somewhere like China and actually feel part of some anti-authoritarian vibe and that was very much what pushed Placebo forward in the early days.
Placebo, of course, is different now.
I’m 37 but when I was 23 I was pissed off at the world and I wanted to fuck society, and it was very important for us to be rebellious. Now we’ve spent 15 years in the music business and it’s a different thing. We understand society and how we can use society for a better future, and this is very much what we’re about. It’s not about rebellion anymore; it’s about working with people who have the power." [***]
"If there is any message that we want to communicate to people, it’s freedom - freedom of choice, religion and sexuality." [***]
"What we believe in is absolute, complete freedom."
(𝐽𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑔. 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 2010)

Photo credit unknown

𝑆𝑜, 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛, ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢:

🎶 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚-𝐑𝐞𝐝
https://bit.ly/3fjNDwU

In this video you can see the great distance between the stage and the audience, and also a military man standing directly among the fans and supervising the appropriate behavior of all participants.
🎶 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞
https://bit.ly/3rrIwxo

🎶 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤-𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐝
and Stefan, who is really trying to keep in touch with the fans
https://bit.ly/31qXhpo

🎶 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲 and fans in euphoria
https://bit.ly/3u2vcRt

Photo credit unknown

Two very special interviews that complete the overall atmosphere.
🎬 𝐈. 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰:
What do the guys think about China, how would they describe their album Meds and at the end a very fun question - what do Placebo think about the heavy metal band 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐡 (which also played at this festival) and whether their collaboration with this band is possible in the future - Brian's answer is worth it😊
https://bit.ly/3dcIyDX

🎶 𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐇 performance for your entertainment😊
https://bit.ly/3rukfXn
Please note - the concert of this band is recorded and published to promote the festival - why? Because the band Sebastian Bach is evaluated as completely harmless to the Chinese government.
While the official footage from the Placebo concert was probably not published at all.

🎬 𝐈𝐈. 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰:
An example of what it looks like when several Chinese reporters ask a question at a time with only one English translator. The band is very bored and Brian deals with some issues really concisely. The fun part comes with the question of what Brian and David Bowie have in common. Brian's answer is really so funny that it makes the whole band laugh.
To understand - Topshop is women's clothes shop😊
https://bit.ly/3lXHTuf

Photo credit unknown

Even though the videos are really very bad, it's obvious that the guys did their best, the fans enjoyed the concert despite the unpleasant supervision.
And that was probably the last time Chinese fans were allowed to see Placebo perform in their country.
🔸🔸🔸⭐🔸🔸🔸

Dear friends, next Wednesday, the sequel to "Chinese Adventure" awaits you.
I think you will get an overall idea of how the Chinese Government is guarding external influences that could affect their citizens in a different way than is desirable for China's leadership.
And you can write me in the comments how you feel from this article.
Because I feel very grateful for what part of the world I live in.

Post by Marti

🎈🎉🎈 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗙𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗟𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗟'𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬 🎈🎉🎈

The 31st of March is a very special and important date for all Placebo fans because Stefan Alexander Bo Olsdal was born on this day back in 1974.


🎈🎉🎈 𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑷𝒀 𝑩𝑰𝑹𝑻𝑯𝑫𝑨𝒀, 𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑭𝑨𝑵! 🎈🎉🎈

We wish you all the best on your special day.
The Placebo Anyway Team

Photo credit: Jesoph Llanes, edit by Silke

📍 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚

Stefan was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He moved to Luxembourg when he was young and went to the American International School of Luxembourg. Brian went to the same institute but they didn't have much contact.

Stefan began playing music in his school's orchestra in 1987. He started playing drums but switched later to bass. He completed his high school education in Sweden and moved to London in 1993, where he attended the Musicians Institute.

Stefan and Brian met by chance at the South Kensington tube station. Brian invited him to a gig he had in a pub in Detford the following weekend. After the show they had a few drinks together and found out that they had a lot in common. So they decided to form a band together, and that's how Placebo started.

Stefan is happily married to his partner David Amen with whom he had the band project Hotel Persona. They have a son named Bosco together, it is not known whether it is by surrogacy or adoption.

Post by Silke

𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬: 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁. 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗼 – 𝗦𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲

Today we have the ♦️𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬♦️ of a special collaboration to celebrate: Exactly 17 years ago was the release date of ”Smile”, Brian's duet with Jane Birkin, a woman who he really admires.

🎬 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗟𝗞𝗢 & 𝗝𝗔𝗡𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗞𝗜𝗡 – 𝗦𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗘

🎵 http://bit.ly/2zevqek 🎵

Photo credit: Scarlet Page, Kate Barry (3)

The English actress, singer and model Birkin attained international fame for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. One of their most famous songs is ”Je t'aime... moi non plus” which was released in 1969 and caused an enormous scandal because of its sexual explicitness.

I guess we all know and love the cover version of ”Je t'aime... moi non plus” that Brian recorded for Dimitri Tikovoi's music project Trash Palace with Italian actress, singer and model Asia Argento in 2002. That's by the way an interesting similarity between the two women, isn't it?


Let's get back to ”Smile”, I haven't told you everything about this collaboration. The song was written by Brian and composer Rachel Corkett. Maybe her name sounds familiar to you because her husband Paul Corkett produced Placebo's third album ”Black market music”. I find it very interesting how all those people are connected with each other in different ways. How about you?


”Smile” was released as one of altogether 13 duets on Jane Birkin's album ”Rendez-vous” on March 29th 2004.

Photo credit: Photo credit: Robin, Kate Barry 

📌 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 𝗝𝗔𝗡𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗞𝗜𝗡 📌
Brian, you had sung with Jane Birkin. I assume that this encounter had marked you ...
”Working with her was more than an honour. She has a dignity, a presence and incredible generosity. She is very English, but as a lady, actually. For me, she is like a member of the royal family.”
(Start Up n°110, Mars 2006 )

📌 𝗝𝗔𝗡𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗞𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 📌
"It is unexpected to hear Brian Molko from Placebo on your album.
"Oh no! He knows Serge songs, he has already made a version of Melody Nelson, he played my part in a version of Je t'Aime Moi Non Plus. It's a very well-read boy, very clever. I thought only the French were so careful with the words, as with the English we just have to understand the title and we can dance. Brian Molko wrote a very strong, sassy song, in which he often has the cunning as Cole Porter, to throw a word on the next verse. Even my mother was absolutely delighted with the keeness of the thing: it is not a reverent song."
(RFI musique, 2004)

📜 𝗟𝗬𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦
Don't stare at your face
With your nose out of place
At the wrinkles where zits used to be
And remember that smiling uses less muscles
And frowning just makes you look ugly

So smile, smile
And the whole world will smile with you
So smile, baby, smile
If the whole world just had a clue

Don't mess with your man
When he's selling you grams
He would kill you for less and then smile
And don't curse at a whore
As you open the door
coz your service wont be with a smile

So smile, smile
And the whole world smiles with you
And smile, baby, smile
If the whole world just had a clue

Don't sneer at your doctor
And Gamble & Procter
Coz they're just pawns in the game
The perfect prescription is one that you're given
it's filled out in jesus' name
Don't be scared of your preacher
Coz hes just a leech
Hes too busy cruising your ass
Theres a verse in the bible
That says we're all liable
For everything that comes to pass

So smile, smile
And the whole world smiles with you
So smile, baby, smile
If the whole world just had a clue
So smile, smile
Smile, smile
Smile, smile...


Post by Silke

INTERVIEW WITH VIMAGAZINO, 2009

Dear soulmates,
It's time for another interview. This one with Brian, Stefan and Steve Forrest was printed in Greek Vimagazino in June 2009. Enjoy reading.

Photo credit: Torsten Roman

GOOD EVENING, HOW ARE YOU?
Brian: “Not too good. We’ ve been doing interviews all the time and we are sick of discussing the same boring things.“

I HEARD YOUR NEW ALBUM [“LOUD LIKE LOVE“] AND OVERALL I LIKED IT.
Brian: “Really? You are the first one who says that. No one has mentioned a thing until now, so it’s nice to hear something.“

I THOUGHT TWO OR THREE SONGS ARE A LITTLE BIT FLAT, BUT I BELIEVE “THE NEVER-ENDING WHY“ WOULD BE A GOOD CHOICE FOR THE NEXT SINGLE, ESPECIALLY IN GREECE. WHAT DO YOU SAY?
Brian: “I say that you don’t work at a record company, so you can’t speak.“

MAYBE YOU PREFERRED TO MENTION ONLY THE POSITIVES. BUT I WON'T STICK ON THAT, SO TELL ME WHAT IS THE “NEVER-ENDING WHY“ FOR YOU?
Brian: “It’s all the questions you’ll never find the answers for, like, for example, “why is there so much misery, on personal and world level?” you can spend a lot of time wondering, looking for the answers you will never find. In the end, it is better to accept misery, like happiness, as a part of life. Maybe the one can’t exist without the other.“

IN ANOTHER SONG YOU WRITE: “A HEART THAT HURTS IS A HEART THAT WORKS“. SOMETIMES HOWEVER, WE “BED DOWN“ OUR HEART, SO WE CAN AVOID GETTING HURT. THIS DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN WE HAVE TO TURN IT OFF.
Brian: “Absolutely not. It’ s comforting to know that you can actually have feelings. Sometimes they can really make you happy and some other times really miserable. But you feel, and this means that you are alive and that there is no reason to be afraid. Like many others, I used to anesthetize myself, so I wouldn’t get hurt, but I try not to do this anymore. There is going to be big sadness, but also intense happiness. It’s better than feeling nothing.“

A FEW DAYS AFTER YOU SENT YOUR NEW ALBUM TO THE RECORD COMPANIES YOU WITHDREW IT, SO IT WOULDN'T BE LEAKED BY SOME JOURNALIST. WE ALL KNOW THAT AN ALBUM IS ANYWAY UPLOADED TO THE INTERNET THE FIRST DAY OF ITS RELEASE. WHY IS IT THAT IMPORTANT THAT EVERYTHING HAPPENS WITH SUCH SECRECY THES DAYS?
Stefan: “Bands should have control of when they want the record to be realized. If this doesn’t satisfy some people, let it be. The record is ours , so they can f***k off.“

Photo credit: Audrey Cerdan

STEVE FORREST IS YOUR NEW DRUMMER. MUCH YOUNGER THAN YOU AND AMERICAN. DID YOU EVER THINK THAT HE COULD ATTRACT MORE YOUNG OR AMERICAN FANS?
Brian: “No. nationality never mattered. Steve has a level of musical skill which would be required for anyone who would happen to get into the band. What also matters a lot is to find someone with whom you can travel the world and who has a positive aura. After the “divorce” with Steve Hewitt, placebo were surrounded by darkness. So we needed positive thinking and enthusiasm.“

ARE YOUNGER ARTISTS MORE PASSIONATE ABOUT THEIR JOB?
Brian: “I don’t think that he is more passionate than me or Stefan, although we have definitely experienced whatever the rock’n’roll circus had to offer to us. Of course exhaustion is a reality, that’s why we wanted his enthusiasm to take away from us the cynicism of our 30something years. And it does.“

STEVE, HOW DO YOU FEEL?
Steve: “I’m really happy. Being a member of a band that you respect and they respect you as well as a person and as a musician is always the key to success.“

DOES THE ECONOMICAL CRISIS HAVE AN EFFECT ON YOU? DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THINGS ARE GOING TO CHANGE SOON?
Brian: “You are speaking to the wrong person. The f*****g economical crisis and all these discussions about bankrupting companies make me so bored. What do you expect me to tell you?“

APPARENTLY NOTHING. WHAT IS WORTH BATTLING FOR?
Brian: “For a lot of things. A better tomorrow would be a good beginning, either it is for the others, or for yourself.“

DID YOU TAKE PART IN THE “EARTH HOUR“? DO YOU BELIEVE THAT AN HOUR CAN REALLY SAVE THE PLANET? OR CAN IT BECOME A GOOD ADVERTISEMENT CAMPAIGN FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES?
Brian: “Although I’m going to be accused of pharisaism, I believe that people should do much more, but this has to be done from top to basis. At least at the USA things have started to change, Obama’s team is more interested in the environment, but still there are a lot of things to be done.“

Photo credit: Joseph Llanes

SHOULD AN ARTIST WHO IS ADDICTED TO SUBSTANCES OR FACES BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS BE JUDGED FROM FOR PERSONAL LIFE?
Brian: “It’s the media circus. The excitement of the British yellow press and general public with sick people seems morbid to me. I’m not surprised that Amy Winehouse hasn’t released any music and I’m also not surprised that when Pete Doherty sings, it sounds like a cat being straggled. Addiction to drugs has usually a bad effect on the artist’s creativity. There is nothing romantic about all this, as much some want to see it this way. Those people are screaming for help, don’t you see it? Someone should help them.“

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU DON'TLIKE TO REMEMBER FROM GREECE?
Brian: “I ate worms in a kebap and had diarrhea.“

DO YOU INTEND TO PLAY SONGS THAT YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED BEFORE?
Stefan: “We can’t play all the audience’s favorites. At the end they will ask us to play in their living room…“
Brian: “…while we are making love. And still there will be some who won’t be satisfied.“
(Vimagazino, June 2009)

Post by Silke

𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 - 𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗚𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗦 – 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬

Today we celebrate the ♦️𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗼𝗳 “𝗦𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁”♦️. The album was released exactly 18 years ago today on the 24th of March 2003. It deals with the memories of former relationships and the effects the ex-partners have on the life of the characters in the songs and how those people have changed the protagonists as a human being. “I believe we carry the ghosts of past relationships with us till we die,” Brian explained. He added that ‘you’ in the lyrics actually means himself.

Photo credits: Cover of the album and covers of the singles / edit by Silke

📀 𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗚𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗦
🎵 https://bit.ly/3lXCdjo 🎵

“Sleeping with ghosts” was produced by Jim Abbiss and engineered by Simon „Barny“ Barnicott. Bill Lloyd worked on the album as additional engineer. The songs were recorded at The Townhouse Studios and Sarm West Studios, both located in London. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 11 in the UK Album Charts and received a generally favourable reaction from music critics.

𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 were released from “Sleeping with ghosts”: The lead single “The bitter end” came out three weeks prior to the album and peaked no. 12 in the UK Singles Chart. It was followed by “This Picture”, “Special needs” and “English summer rain” which all entered the Top 30.

In an interview with Rock Sound Brian said that “Sleeping with ghosts” was the most emotional and honest record they made so far. Brian also pointed out that he was very proud of the fact that the album has no drug references at all (see quotes below).

Photo credit: Jean Baptiste Mondino (3), cover of the album / edit by Silke

📌 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 “𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗚𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗦” 📌
📢 ”The memories are certainly there and “Sleeping with ghosts” is about how do deal with them. You look back and think about if your memories are accurate. If they're objective or not. And I believe that with me they are subjective. And I also believe we carry the ghosts of past relationships with us till we die.”
(DNAsix, March 2003)

📢 "Trying to push your sound forwards without turning your back on all the things that make the band unique and recognisable is definitely a difficult balance, but I think we pulled it off."
(Scotland on Sunday, April 2003)

📢 "Obviously, certain songs are about particular people or things that reminded me of them, but I think there's a shared history there because we've all been through the types of relationships described on this record. The title “Sleeping with ghosts“ is about a smell or object or film reminding you of a certain person or misdemeanour."
(Scotland on Sunday, April 2003)

📢 “I’ve used this album to look back on relationships I’ve had over the past 10 years and whatever masochism is going on in the song is nearly always directed towards myself – ‘you’ actually means ‘me’.“
(Rock Sound, April 2003)

📢 “This record is the most emotional and honest we’ve made.”
(Rock Sound, April 2003)

📢 ”This album is a return to what we do best really, it’s dealing with relationships again. It’s got so much to do with the fact that we had an eight month period off beforehand to think for the first time and be human beings, to reacquaint ourselves with humanity outside of the rock’n’roll bubble. It was very natural that those were the kind of songs that were coming out.”
(X-Ray, April 2003)

📢 ”I started to think very much about the relationships I’ve had over the past ten years and whether they’d changed me and the effect that they’d had on me. So “Sleeping with ghosts” became an album about exorcising the demons of your past relationships. And in that way, it became a very therapeutic and cathartic thing for me.”
(X-Ray, April 2003)

Munich, Germany, May19th 2003. Photo credit unknowm

📢 ”By the time I reached 30 I realised there is no tragedy without joy in the first place. I became quite obsessed by the idea that you carry the ghosts of your relationships past with you for the rest of your life and people come back to haunt you, and that this is often triggered by external stimuli – smells, a song on the radio, an article of clothing, a book, whatever. I wondered what effect your memory still had on you to this day, regardless of the amount of time from the end of the relationship and where you are now and how you’ve moved on. Along the way, I managed to exorcise a few personal demons.”
(X-Ray, April 2003)

📢 ”I’m very proud of the fact that this album has no drug references.”
(X-Ray, April 2003)

📢 ”Is about trying to deal with your memory and trying to deal with those ghosts that you carry around with you, continuously, the people, the events that shaped you. Trying, I guess, to accept them and learn from them in order to take healthier steps towards the future.”
(Suicide Girls, February 2004)

📢 "The album title's about carrying the ghosts of your relationships with you, to the point where sometimes a smell or situation or an item of clothing they bought you kind of brings a person back. For me it's about the relationship that you have with your memories. They inhabit your dreams sometimes. There can be a lot in the future that's gonna remind you of the ghost of relationships past. So I see the album as a collection of short stories about a handful of relationships. Most of them mine. In a way writing the songs helps me to get a lot of the nasty things off my chest and put them in a box a little bit more, and therefore have a bit more of an objective discourse with those emotions because you've done something positive with them, you've rid yourself of them."
(ReadMag, November 25th 2003)

Post bya Silke

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗧'𝗦 𝟱𝟬𝗧𝗛 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬 + 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 (𝗫𝗦 𝗡𝗼𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟱)

🎈🎉 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝟓𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐓! 🎉🎈

Photo: Credits unknown, edit by Silke

On 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 22𝘯𝘥 1971 Placebo's ex-drummer Steve Hewitt was born in Northwich, Cheshire (UK). Steve was inspired to become a drummer after watching Phil Taylor performing “Ace of Spades” with Motörhead on Top of the Pops as a kid. He convinced his parents to get him a drum kit and then taught himself to play.

Steve joined the band 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 at the age of 17 after responding to an advert in a newspaper.
In 1991 he met Brian through his then-girlfriend at a Burger King in Lewisham. Later he was invited to drum on some demos for Placebo but he couldn't join them due to commitments to Breed. He replaced Placebo's first drummer Robert Schultzberg in 1996 and was a regular member of the band until 2007.

After his departure Steve founded the band Love Amongst Ruin, did some collaborations and started to work as a producer.

🎬 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗨𝗜𝗡 – 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗬
🎵 http://bit.ly/2un9nD6 🎵

Photo credit unknown

♦️ 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 ♦️

𝗛𝗜 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗩𝗘, 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗨𝗣 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗟𝗬?
📢 "I’ve been at my home studio doing loads of production working with a female songwriter called DéDé who’s with the same publisher, I’ve been asked to write and produce for her, as well as working on other peoples stuff."

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗘 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 𝗜𝗦 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚.
📢 "It’s been amazing, I’m really chuffed it’s been quite overwhelming, especially in America, it’s gone off the hook there. We had a number one in Germany; all the reviews have been superb. It’s been a long time coming, I sort of became the British Dave Grohl for a while working with everybody else (laughs)."

𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠?
📢 "Yeah, you get it done and then other work comes in. I worked with Six By Seven for a year. Time is just flying in and before I knew it three years had passed and I thought “Shit! I better get this out.” Since I left Placebo it’s nice to be versatile and have the freedom to go off and do other things and have a musical career, I really enjoy it. It’s nice to work with different styles of music and different people. It’s quite addictive I suppose."

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 “𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗬“ 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠?
📢 "We did them both in the same studio at Moles in Bath, obviously doing the first record felt like quite a steep mountain to climb seeing if I could do it on my own. It was obviously a cathartic thing; I had to get a lot of shit off my chest. The second album was different because I was much more confident. I taught myself more lessons and I knew what I was doing, it felt much easier I was more confident, the songs were better as well.
I broke it down so it was just Donald Ross Skinner, Dan Austin and I. I didn’t take a whole band in it was just ourselves, we kept it quite minimal. That way there are fewer people to make decisions, it becomes a quicker process, and enjoyable. Working with Dan was a massive eye-opener because he works really quickly, there’s not much time to hang around which keeps the momentum."

𝗦𝗢 𝗜𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗦𝗡'𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗧 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠?
📢 "Not at all, if anything it was the complete opposite, it felt like it was meant to be, it felt easy and it felt right. I love being in the studio anyway, it felt very comfortable there. It’s an enjoyable experience the more we can get in and sculpt an album. I think if you’re in the studio and your struggling, you shouldn’t be in there you should come out and rethink, it all seemed to flow really well."

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠; 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗡𝗘?
📢 "Possibly, I hadn’t really thought about it actually. We did the acoustic version of my debut in a day in a studio in Sussex, it was a nice exercise, but yeah it might be good. Those things come about when you’re doing radio sessions and you start breaking the songs down to acoustics so you can see how they work. It would be nice to do something like that to keep the tradition going, we should look into it. I think a lot of the songs on this album would work that way."

Photo credit: Nadav Kander

“𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗪𝗔𝗥 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚“ 𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠, 𝗜'𝗠 𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚. 𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘.
📢 "It’s more of a modern-day occurrence than ever before, it’s become part of everyone’s life. There is always a war somewhere, unfortunately. When you see discussions or reasons why these wars are happening, it’s always from the politician’s point of view. It’s a difficult job for the people who are on the front line; nobody seems to take their point of view. It seemed logical to me to write a song from a soldier’s point of view asking the politicians ‘What the fuck is going on?’ I find it quite revolting the way soldiers are treated when their service finishes after signing up and fighting for their country, it’s unbelievable."

𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗔 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗠𝗔𝗡?
📢 "I had been 25 years behind a drum kit when I was ejected, it was probably time to test myself and try something new, it was a challenge. I thought about writing songs and getting someone else to sing them or co-writing, I didn’t know whether I would find that easy trying to get my view across, I sort of fell into it."

𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗠𝗔𝗡?
📢 "Yeah, I get really nervous before I go on stage; the idea of it makes me nervous but once I’m there I can deal with it. I’m just developing parts of my musical character. I never thought in a million years that I would be singing in a band. I’ll just get on with it and try and do the best job I can."

𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚?
📢 "Yes, I co-wrote some of the lyrics with Brian (Molko) in Placebo and I always did backing vocals, I have always had a good pitch and musical ear, but to put that into practice and front a rock band never crossed my mind, and here we are! (Laughs)"

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗬
📢 "Probably going back to the 70s growing up it was always AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin obviously. I’ve got an older brother Nick who is 4 years older and I was always going through his record collection. My family loved music, my dad was a massive Buddy Holly fan. I remember being in the back of the car going on caravan holidays, we would be listening to The Bee Gees, Elton John, ELO and The Beatles, stuff that was around all the time. I probably know the words to every Elton John and Bee Gees songs because of those times (laughs) it was always very much rock, then when I got older I crossed over to The Smiths and The Cure, I am a massive fan of The Cure."

𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛?
📢 "I have been lucky enough to get my wish list; I’ve worked with Robert Smith, Michael Stipe, Frank Black and David Bowie. I would like to work with Tom Waits, I am a massive fan of his, I would love to meet him I think he is an amazing musician. I have toured with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds it would be great to do something with Nick. I think some of the earlier Bad Seeds records are some of the best ever, they could be phenomenal."

Photo credit: Pat Pope

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗔 𝗙𝗘𝗪 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦, 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗧?
📢 "Probably when I was in K-Klass back in the day, I was doing programming for them and playing congas live at the Hacienda on New Year’s Eve 1989 going into 1990 and the place was going off! It was probably the last greatest movement in music that dance period when Ecstasy came in, at the same time I was in The Boo Radleys and I was in K-Klass, you couldn’t get 2 polar opposites (laughs). I was in a shoegazing band in Liverpool and in a dance band in Manchester, fucking mental! You could say I was a musical prostitute (laughs) that New Year’s Eve was just off the scale, I haven’t seen anything like that drug-fuelled madness since."

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦. 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖?
📢 "Absolutely! I have spent 25 years playing the drums and touring the world if I haven’t learned anything by now there’s something wrong, so it’s nice to work with up and coming artists along with already established artists. It’s nice to put my ideas and influences across. When you gel with someone it’s really satisfying, it feels like your keeping yourself contemporary at the same time. Music moves so quickly these days, there is no life to it at all, it’s so disposable, and you’ve got to keep moving with it. It’s nice to filter through your influences while learning from other artists."

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗘𝗡𝗝𝗢𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧?
📢 "The last good rock album was Royal Blood, I thought that sounded amazing, and a recent discovery is a band called LA Girls, I have heard a few tracks from them on 6 Music and they sound amazing, they are out there and quite spacey."

𝗦𝗢 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗨𝗜𝗡?
📢 "We are going to be touring at the end of November; I have just got the band together with some top-class musicians who are great friends as well. I am really looking forward to taking the album out with a great bunch of lads who can really play. We are going to rehearse for the next few months and go out in November and start touring, we will be doing Europe than London, hopefully over to Ireland and then America in January-February."
(XS Noize, October 2015)

𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠:
👉 https://www.facebook.com/SteveJHewittOfficial

𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝘼𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙩 𝙍𝙪𝙞𝙣:
👉 https://www.facebook.com/loveamongstruin
👉 https://www.instagram.com/loveamongstruinofficial

Post by Silke

𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙑𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙏 (𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟭)

𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔, next Monday will be a special day because it will be 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒕's 50𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚, so today I want to share with you the very first interview I read from 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 published in a Mexican magazine oriented to young people, very popular between the late 80's and early 00's. When I read this interview, I didn't know 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆's voice yet, I had only seen a couple of pictures and videos of the band and listened to "𝑺𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔" album. After reading his answers, it seemed to me that 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆 was a very nice, funny and cool guy, and that hasn't changed until today. What has changed, is my admiration and affection for him, because now it's bigger. ✨💖🥁💕🎶

 Photo credit: Karen Mason Blair / Edit by Rita

🔷✨ 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙑𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙏 (𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟭) ✨🔷

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘰, 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘖𝘭𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘰. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 "𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘒" 𝘢𝘯𝘥 "𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶" 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘡𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘬 𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘦 (𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵), 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮…

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 “𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖”?
With the last album "Without you I'm Nothing" we did a 14-month tour and we were so busy that we couldn't write anything. When we finished, we were really tired, but we had to get to work because we were already tired of playing the songs on that album, and since we had been like monkeys playing, playing and playing, we already wanted to change the rhythm of work, and this we were only going to achieve it by writing new songs; we were excited about it.

𝗕𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗠𝗨𝗖𝗛 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗖 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖. 𝗜𝗦𝗡'𝗧 𝗜𝗧 𝗔 𝗕𝗜𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗗𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡 𝗔 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗘?
I've been playing for 15 years, and from '89 to '91 I was in a techno band called K Klass. Besides, I've always liked electronic music; I'm from Manchester and there's a good movement of this kind of music there. Apart, I experienced the ecstasy of electronic music, so it's not strange that someone like me likes that genre so much.

⭐ 𝐊 𝐊𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 - 𝐑𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐦 𝐈𝐬 𝐀 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 (𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 1991) [ 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 ] 🎶
https://youtu.be/p1C20hCFjks

Photo credit: Nadav Kander

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧, 𝗪𝗘 𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗔 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗠 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗣 𝗕𝗜𝗭𝗞𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗠𝗔𝗡, 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗗𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗧….
About two years ago in New York we were playing a Christmas show with Kid Rock, and when we finished, Fred Durst suddenly stepped on stage and said Placebo sucked, so a big fight started. He's a poor idiot; We never cleared things up afterwards, so we were never friends again, and we weren't friends anyway. Four months later we met at a show in Australia, but since everyone already knew about the fight, the organizers planned everything so that we did not coincide, so nothing happened. But he's a real jerk; He and his band can go to hell.

𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗, 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗔 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗗𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗗 𝗕𝗢𝗪𝗜𝗘...
That's right, we met him when he was on tour with Morrisey, and one day, all of a sudden Morrisey disappeared. Bowie had some demos of us, so he wanted us to open some shows for him and that's when it all started. I think Bowie saw something of him in Brian in terms of lyrics. The thing is that we kept getting along, and when we released the last album, He proposed us to play together. Of course we said yes; When people like him want to do something with you, you know you're doing something right.

𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗔 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡?
Of course I do!, it was when I was 11 and I was in school. A couple of friends wanted to form a band and they talked to me. They had older brothers who were in other bands, so they lent us their guitars, but there were only two. My brother also had his band, but he didn't lend me his guitar and anyway they told me "why don't you try the drums?" I tried it and learned to play on my own. That's when I realized I wanted to be a musician, and here I am
(laughs).

𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗥𝗘-𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠, 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗜𝗧?
Nothing, because that's what was going on at the time; That was our mentality and that's how we thought we should sound, that's why records should stay as they are, because they reflect an exact moment you are going through.

𝗟𝗘𝗧'𝗦 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗥𝗘 𝗔 𝗝𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗦𝗞 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗧 𝗔 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗦𝗞 𝗛𝗜𝗠?
What drugs do you take? Who do you sleep with? (laughs) I'd be a gossip journalist, of course! And if I had to answer I'd say "f*ck you." I'd love to ask those things just to see the reaction.

Photo credit: Sebastian Dolidon

🔷 𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙑𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝙀
𝙈𝙊𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙎... 🎬 🔷

𝗔 𝗙𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗚𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗔 𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗠 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗗 "𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗧 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘" 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗘𝗪𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗖𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗢𝗥.
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗜𝗧 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗦?
I really enjoyed the experience, I made a lot of friends and it was a pleasure to work with someone like Todd Haynes (director). Of course, I'd rather be a musician than an actor because it's less tiring. When you act you have to wait for a lot of things to happen, as a musician you just do them and that's it, plus it's very tiring. From there I began to get along with Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) who was the producer, but after "Velvet Goldmine" I retired precisely because I was so tired (laughs), but it's a good movie. What I did hate is that people started to label us as a glam band after that. They don't understand that it's cinema, it's fiction, we were playing a glam band, but suddenly the reporters told us "how does it feel to be a glam band? Got damn! Anyway, the experience was wonderful.

𝗜𝗙 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗠𝗘𝗗, 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗛 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬?
(laughs) I think it would be Nicolas Cage (laughs) because you can always see that he brings out the funny side of everything when he acts; That's why I like him so much, I'm like that. He's also very intense, just like me. That's a good question, I think I'm going to remember it when I go to sleep (laughs).

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘?
I like things like "Being John Malkovich". I'm not one of those who enjoy horror movies or very gory stuff; I lean towards tapes like "Drugstore Cowboy", "Buffalo 66", "Rumble Fish", "Angel heart", that kind of thing….

Photo credit: Juliette Robert

🔷 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙎𝙏 𝙄𝙉 𝙈𝙐𝙎𝙄𝘾… 🎶 🔷

⭐𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗧...
Julian Cope.
💿𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧...
"The Wall" by Pink Floyd...
🎸𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗...
"To one of the Pixies in Manchester and opened Bloody Valentines. That changed my life, because at the time I was listening to AC/DC and stuff like that, mostly because of my brother, and when I saw Pixies they blew me away. They taught me that there was something else beyond what I was listening to." ✪

𝑻𝒆𝒙𝒕: 𝐴𝑙𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑜 𝑅𝑜𝑗𝑎𝑠
𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆: 𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑠, 1𝑠𝑡 𝐽𝑢𝑙𝑦 2001, #313
𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑅𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜 𝑑𝑒 𝐿. 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝐴𝑛𝑦𝑤𝑎𝑦

Post by Rita

𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 - 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗞 – 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬

”𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔'𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑...”
(𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝐶𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒, 𝐽𝑢𝑛𝑒 2𝑛𝑑 2001)

Photo Credit: Screenshots from the video, edit by Silke

Today we have a special ♦️𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬♦️ to celebrate: Exactly 20 years ago today, on the 19th of March 2001, “𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗞” was released as third single from “Black market music”.

There is a specific theme that runs through the album, and this theme is 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. According to Brian "Special K" explores the link between those two things. “It is uppers and the rush of falling in love” (Melody Maker, October 2000).

🎬 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗞 – 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢
🎵 http://bit.ly/37QAFk6 🎵

The music clip is based on the 60’s movie “Fantastic Voyage”. It was directed by Howard Greenhalgh and depicts Brian and the other members of the band in an undisclosed, scientific headquarters where Brian is shrunk down to microbiological proportions and accidentally dropped into the mouth of drummer Steve Hewitt. The video in its entirety maintains a sci-fi aesthetic throughout. It ends with a shrunken Brian is sucked out through Steve's tear duct.

“Special K” was put out in two different versions, as regular single CD with the b-side tracks “Dub psychosis” and “Passive aggressive (Brothers in Rhythm mix)” and as an enhanced CD consisting of seven songs and the “Special K” video.

📌 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 📌
From 2000 to 2018 “Special K” was played live at least one time every year. Altogether there are 687 confirmed performances of the song which makes it the no. 2 in the tour statistic right after “Every you Every me”. It's remarkable that “Special K” is such a fan favourite as it was not too much of a success in the international charts.

Placebo - Making of Special K

🎬 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗞 – 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲, 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟭
🎵 http://bit.ly/2R65dGW 🎵

🎬 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗞 – 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘇𝗶𝗴𝗲𝘁, 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟰
🎵 https://bit.ly/3jZlf2g 🎵


📌 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗙𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 “𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗞” 📌
📢 ”It's the comparison of the rush of drugs to falling in love. Where gravity comes from is what comes up always comes down. You can't escape it.”
(Stefan, Hip Online, February 2001)

Placebo - Making of Special K

📌 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 “𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗞” 📌
📢 ”It's a nickname for a drug given to a newborn babies to prevent thrombosis. It's also used to tranquilize horses, and in the 1950s, it was given to astronauts to create the feeling of anti-gravity. And that's the song's metaphor. What goes up must come down The same is true of drugs and love. Religion, drugs and love are what most people are addicted to in the world.”
(Morning Call, May 19th 2001)

𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 "𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐾" - 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛... 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚.
📢 ”It's been around for awhile and I wouldn't recommend that to anyone. But it's not about that. It's comparing the rush with falling head over heels in love or being infatuated with someone and coming upon controlled substances of any kind. The moral of the story is what comes up must come down.”
(Vox Online, 2001)

Post by Silke

𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗝, 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟬

📢𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑨𝑵 𝑴𝑶𝑳𝑲𝑶: “𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇…”😄

Photo credit: Kerri Campbell, Melbourne Ferstival Hall, 2010

Hi dear soulmates!
Last week I started telling you about Placebo 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 2010. Now, I’m going to continue with another great 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 that Brian did for Australian Radio Station 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝑱 on March 1st in Perth. Obviously, the interviewers were young and funny guys, so, together with Brian’s perfect sense of humour, the chat turned to be quite ridiculous at times but very honest as well.
Do you want to know if it's easy to become friends with Brian and how it’s like to play at the mountain ski resort at the end of December? Then here we go!

🔶▪️🔶▪️🔶
Int. 1: 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒃𝒚. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏… 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒌! 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐. 𝑯𝒊 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏!
𝐁: Good morning!
Int. 1: 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅?
𝐁: Yeah, we've only just met, dude, you know.
I4nt. 1: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐?
𝐁: It’s alright, you know, I think it's a cultural thing you notice. I think this is certain kind of familiarity that kind of comes with being an Australian. I'm used to it, I'm in a band with an American, you know, and it's kind of like ‘Hello, I’ve just met you, you’re my best friend!’ [imitates American accent and laughs]. So I'm kinda used to it.
Int. 1: 𝑺𝒐 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅? 𝑩𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕?
𝐁: No, no.
Int. 2: 𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚. 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐?
𝐁: No [laughs]
Int. 2: 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅! 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒚𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒚…
𝐁: It's way too early in the morning, you know, I haven’t had enough coffee yet to be friends with myself.
Int. 1: 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆-𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒌𝒆...
𝐁: You've just blown the whole thing… [laughs]
Int. 1: 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍. 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚, 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆-𝒖𝒑. 𝑯𝒐𝒘'𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈?
𝐁: Oh it's going really well, yeah, so far so good, really.
Int. 1: 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓?
𝐁: My favourite show was our own show that we played in Melbourne, at the Festival Hall, a few days ago. It was pretty magical, one of those moments of collective euphoria that just eveything’s just gonna slot into its place.
Int. 1: 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕… 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 ‘𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍, 𝒘𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈.’
𝐁: Yeah, song no.1 till song 22. [laughs]

Photo credit unknown

Int. 1: 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅…
𝐁: That's kinda really takes off.
Int. 1: 𝑶𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏, 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅?
𝐁: Would you like a diplomatic answer or a truthful one?
Int. 1: 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒆.
𝐁: Everybody has a bad day, certainly it happens to everyone. I think the most recent one was on the 22nd of December, 2009, and we played in a ski resort in Italy, and the weather was terrible, it took us like 2 days to get up the mountain, when we got there it was like a football field covered in snow with 50 people in it. We’re on stage and the stage is leaking water, all the equipment is just breaking, and you just ask yourself like, "Why am I here? What am I doing?" It's 3 days from Christmas and I’m stuck up a mountain, nothing works, nobody's here, "What am I doing with my life?" and I was just like, I put some sunglasses on and just kind of grinned and bared it to the end. So obviously it's got a lot to do with the whole bunch of different conditions, really.
Int. 1: 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐, 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐, 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘… 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘…
🔶▪️🔶▪️🔶

Int. 2: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏?
Int. 1: 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅.
Int. 2: 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕!
Int. 1: 𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕.
Int. 2: 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏.
Int. 1: 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕.
Int. 2: 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇, 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 8 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕.
Int. 1: 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕…
Int. 2: 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒆… 𝑯𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒑, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆-𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒏…
Int. 2: 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒈𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.
𝐁: For a band, when you’re kinda… when the instruments are not working or when you have technical problems, you just feel like an amputee on stage, that's one condition that makes it quite difficult. Everybody has a bad day, everybody wakes up occasionally at the wrong side of the bed, everybody has stuff going on in their life which can kind of influence a bad show sometimes as well, so we are only human. But the thing about the band is that regardless of all these factors, we try to pay maximum respect to the people who show up and so we do our best to give 100% whatever the conditions are. But, being human, this is only so much that we can do on certain days.
Int. 1: 𝑯𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘?
𝐁: Well, I think what you do from the time is that you learn to sort of become less precious, you kind of understand the context a lot more of what you're doing. When you are 22-23, every little tiny thing that goes wrong is sort of like a matter of life and death to you. I think you sort of get more distance and more balance from the whole thing, just through experience. So you’re a little bit kind of less emotional about the whole thing. You understand like ‘It’s quite ok, this too shall pass’, you know.

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▪️Source: Audio - Brian Molko Interview by Triple J, 1 March 2010, Australia
Part 1 https://bit.ly/3rNHs8b
Part 2 https://bit.ly/2MgWYsW

Post by Olga